Dhaka seeks London’s support for 1971 war crimes prosecutions

Dhaka, May 31 (DPA) Dhaka Sunday sought documentary support from London to prosecute Bangladesh’s 1971 war crimes suspects. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has been campaigning worldwide for support in bringing to book those accused of war crimes in Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

She asked for Britain’s support during a meeting with British Minister of State for International Defence and Security Ann Taylor Bolton in Singapore, a statement from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said.

“Relevant archives and old records available in the United Kingdom will be useful in the trial,” Moni was quoted as saying in the statement.

Moni has since Friday met several world leaders on the sidelines of a security summit in Singapore to discuss the matter.

Bangladesh’s Awami League-led coalition government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has pledged to bring the 1971 war criminals to justice.

The process of their initial trial halted because of political changeover in 1975, after the assassination of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.